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Pence to make announcement on unemployment loan

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Gov. Mike Pence is set to make an announcement about a federal loan that the state took out to pay unemployment benefits during the recession.

The Republican governor is expected to agree to a plan that would use about $250 million from Indiana’s surplus to finish paying back the federal government for the loan.

If Indiana pays off the loan by Nov. 10, the state will eliminate a $126-per-employee penalty that businesses would be charged for 2016.

Officials expect to transfer money from the state unemployment fund next spring to restore the withdrawal from the state’s $2 billion in cash reserves.

Businesses pay taxes into the unemployment fund, which has already repaid much of $2 billion in federal loans.